Divine Mercy Fraternity Secular Franciscan Order September 2018
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www.dmf-ofs.org Divine Mercy Fraternity●Secular Franciscan Order●September 2018 Fraternity Officers/Council Members Regular Meeting: (exp. Jan. 09, 2019) The next meeting: Sunday, September 9, 2018, Minister: Fred Schaeffer, OFS Vice-Minister: Helen Caldarone, OFS 2:00 - 4:00 pm, at St. Helen Church, South Room, Secretary: Jean McGovern, OFS Vero Beach, Florida Treasurer: Jack Reddy, OFS Formation Director: Donna Haro, OFS Agenda and Schedule Councilor-at-large: Joanne Giordana, OFS 2.00 Opening, Reports, etc. Spiritual Asst. Deacon Richard Blake, OFS (when available) 2:10 Formation Director (Donna): The Stigmata of St. Francis and St. (Padre) Pio 3:00 Break and Refreshments 3:15 Liturgy of the Hours, using, “Christian Prayer,” followed by the Franciscan Crown, if time permits. 4:00 Closing Prayers and Dismissal Refreshments: Snacks: Please bring what you can, if you are able. Drinks: no drinks are needed. Council Meeting: Saturday, September 15 at St. John of the Cross (see Fred) Remember in your prayers: All fraternity members, especially Marie, Fred, Stan and Virgin- ia. Please pray for Nick (Joanne’s husband) for healing. Anniversaries - August or September: None Minister’s Message: The Sunflower always turns to brother sun; may our hearts and souls turn to God in the same way. We’ll use this motif for a while, until I find something else with flora and/or fauna. Anyone have any ideas? Other Franciscan Saints I like to review: St. Maximilian Kolbe 8/14; St. Rose of Viterbo, Secular Franciscan 9/4; St. Joseph of Cupertino, 9/18; St. (Padre) Pio of Pietrelcina 9/23; See you all on September 9th! Divine Mercy Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order, meets monthly except in the month of August. The Canticle—Divine Mercy Fraternity, Secular Franciscan Order, Vero Beach, FL September, 2018 Page 2 St. Clare was born in Assisi (1194), the eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Traditional accounts say that Clare's father was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in Assisi and a castle on the slope of Mount Subasio. Orto- lana belonged to the noble family of Fiumi, and was a very devout woman who had undertaken pil- grimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostela and the Holy Land. Later in life, Ortolana entered Clare's monastery, as did Clare's sisters, Beatrix and Catarina (who took the name Agnes). As a child, Clare was devoted to prayer. Although there is no mention of this in any historical record, it is assumed that Clare was to be married in line with the family tradition. However, at the age of 18 she heard Francis preach during a Lenten service in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi and asked him to help her to live after the manner of the Gospel. On the evening of Palm Sunday, March 20, 1212, she left her father's house and accompanied by her aunt Bianca and another companion proceeded to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet Francis. There, her hair was cut, and she exchanged her rich gown for a plain robe and veil. Francis placed Clare in the convent of the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo, near Bastia. Her father at- tempted to force her to return home. She clung to the altar of the church and threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair. She resisted any attempt, professing that she would have no other husband but Jesus Christ. In order to provide the greater solitude Clare desired, a few days later Francis sent her to Sant' Angelo in Panzo, another monastery of the Benedictine nuns on one of the flanks of Subasio. Other women joined them, and they were known as the "Poor Ladies of San Damiano". They lived a simple life of poverty, austerity and seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order (Poor Clares). San Damiano became the center of Clare's new religious order, which was known in her lifetime as the "Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano". San Damiano was long thought to be the first house of this order, however, recent scholarship strongly suggests that San Damiano actually joined an exist- ing network of women's religious houses organized by Hugolino (who later became Pope Gregory IX). Hugolino wanted San Damiano as part of the order he founded because of the prestige of Clare's monastery. San Damiano emerged as the most important house in the order, and Clare became its undisputed leader. By 1263, just ten years after Clare's death, the order had become known as the Or- der of Saint Clare. In 1228, when Gregory IX offered Clare a dispensation from the vow of strict poverty, she replied: "I need to be absolved from my sins, but not from the obligation of following Christ." Accordingly, the Pope granted them the Privilegium Pauperitatis — that nobody could oblige them to accept any pos- session. Unlike the Franciscan friars, whose members moved around the country to preach, Saint Clare's sis- ters lived in enclosure, since an itinerant life was hardly conceivable at the time for women. Their life consisted of manual labor and prayer. The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat and observed almost complete silence. Divine Mercy Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order, meets monthly except in the month of August. The Canticle—Divine Mercy Fraternity, Secular Franciscan Order, Vero Beach, FL September, 2018 Page 3 For a short period, the order was directed by Francis himself. Then in 1216, Clare accepted the role of abbess of San Damiano. As abbess, Clare had more authority to lead the order than when she was the prioress and required to follow the orders of a priest heading the community. Clare defended her or- der from the attempts of prelates to impose a rule on them that more closely resembled the Rule of Saint Benedict than Francis' stricter vows. Clare sought to imitate Francis' virtues and way of life so much so that she was sometimes titled alter Franciscus, another Francis. She also played a significant role in encouraging and aiding Francis, whom she saw as a spiritual father figure, and she took care of him during his final illness. After Francis's death, Clare continued to promote the growth of her order, writing letters to abbesses in other parts of Europe and thwarting every attempt by each successive pope to impose a rule on her order which weakened the radical commitment to corporate poverty she had originally em- braced. Clare's Franciscan theology of joyous poverty in imitation of Christ is evident in the rule she wrote for her community and in her four letters to Agnes of Prague. In 1224, the army of Frederick II came to plunder Assisi. Clare went out to meet them with the Blessed Sacrament in her hands. Suddenly a mysterious terror seized the enemies, who fled without harming anybody in the city. In her later years, Clare endured a long period of poor health. She died on August 11, 1253 at the age of 59. Her last words as reported to have been, "Blessed be You, O God, for having created me." Today, the Poor Clares form a worldwide Order of more than 17,000 sisters in 900 monasteries, 46 of which are in the United States. All follow the same Rule and share the same basic Constitutions. Divine Mercy Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order, meets monthly except in the month of August. The Canticle—Divine Mercy Fraternity, Secular Franciscan Order, Vero Beach, FL September, 2018 Page 4 The Franciscan Crown Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother The Franciscan Crown Rosary is a Ro- Wind, and through the air, cloudy and se- sary consisting of seven decades with rene, and every kind of weather through each decade describing a particular joy which You give sustenance to Your crea- from the life of the Blessed Virgin tures. Mary. The Seven Joys are: Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister 1) The Annunciation Water, which is very useful and humble 2) The Visitation and precious and chaste. 3) The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother 4) The Adoration of the Magi Fire, through whom you light the night 5) The Finding of the Child Jesus in the and he is beautiful and playful and robust Temple and strong. 6) The Appearance of Christ to Mary after the Resurrection Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister 7) The Assumption and Coronation of Mother Earth, who sustains us and gov- Mary as Queen of Heaven erns us and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs. The Franciscan Crown Rosary begins Praised be You, my Lord, with the first Mystery and then praying through those who give pardon for Your one Our Father and ten Hail Marys love, and bear infirmity and tribulation. while meditating upon it. This is then followed for the other six Mysteries. It Blessed are those who endure in peace is customary to finish by adding two for by You, Most High, they shall be Hail Marys in honor of the 72 years crowned. that Our Lady is said to have lived on earth, and one Our Father and Hail Praised be You, my Lord, Mary for the intentions of the Pope. through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape. The Canticle of the Sun Woe to those who die in mortal sin. by St. Francis of Assisi Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second Most High, all powerful, good Lord, death shall do them no harm.